I agree with you that many religious ideas are comforting fantasies that people feel give meaning to their lives. The universe and our lives within it are certainly mysterious and often frightening; so it's natural of us to tell each other reassuring stories. I find my comfort in the very acts of huddling around our campfires sharing stories at night after working together in the daytime to support and protect one another.

As for the universe as a whole, I like the idea in Rilke's poem Buddha. Here is my own translation of it:

As if he listened. Silence: a distance ...

We stop, and do not hear it any more.

And he is star. And more great stars

that we don't see stand ‘round him.

Oh, he is all. Really, do we expect

that he should see us? Should he need to?

And if we threw ourselves before him,

he'd remain as deep and languid as a cat.

For that which draws us to his feet

has coursed in him for millions of years.

He who forgets what we experience,

and who experiences what we cannot.